


Sacrifice

by Rookblonkorules



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Armin Arlert-centric, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Eren Yeager, Protective Mikasa Ackerman, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26405851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookblonkorules/pseuds/Rookblonkorules
Summary: Armin learns just how much he's willing to sacrifice to protect Eren.
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert & Jean Kirstein, Armin Arlert & Sasha Blouse, Mikasa Ackerman & Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman & Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write more fluff and angst with the Shiganshina trio for a while now. Of course, since Armin is my favorite, I'm a little harder on him than on the other two.
> 
> This takes place soon after Eren's titan powers are revealed and is a sort of "what-if Pyxis hadn't arrived to stop Woermann and Armin had to provide a distraction" idea.
> 
> A warning attached for brief, mild torture and the aftermath of that. A spoiler for season 3 is mentioned in the ending author's note, but I'm imagining most people reading this would have watched the entire anime.
> 
> Platonic, but any ship between the three of them could possibly be read into this.

Armin chokes. 

Throwing up what little he has in his stomach. 

It’s not much.

Just a thin trickle of bile that burns on its way up.

The hand in his hair goes nowhere, tightening its grip. 

He’s trying desperately to suck in as much air as he can, but it’s hard between all the gasping and choking. 

No matter how hard he tries, it feels like he just can’t expand his lungs. 

_ Leave. _

_ Take him and get out of here. _

_ I’ll be your distraction. _

He’s only given a second more before his head is being thrust back under again and he’s drowning once more. 

His lungs burn and, at one point, Armin forgets to hold his breath, sucking in water in his desperation for oxygen. 

They don’t pull him up.

They don’t pull him up and the muscles in Armin’s shoulders tremble involuntarily. 

His fingers clench and unclench, striving to grab something,  _ anything _ , to pull himself back to the surface. 

He’s drowning. 

They’re really killing him. 

It hits him all at once.

They’re really going to kill him this time.

He doesn’t want to die. 

And then he’s yanked above the surface. 

The hand lets him go and he falls to the floor, landing hard on his bound arms. 

A keening whine emerges from his throat, his breath coming out in loud gasps. 

He’s shaking 

Armin doesn’t hear the voice, doesn’t know when they ask the question. Only knows that they did. 

Knows it was the same question they’ve been asking since the start. 

Feels the boot digging into his side and cries out, trying to curl away from it. 

“D-dunno,” he gets out around a thick tongue and chattering teeth. His eyes are closed and he can’t stop shaking. “Don’t… know.”

The beauty of it is that it’s actually true. 

He has no idea where Mikasa and Eren are.

The military won’t be able to get their hands on Eren through him. 

Not that they believe him.

But being uninformed ensures that, no matter how badly he hurts, he won’t slip up and tell them. 

And no matter what happens, they can’t just use him as bait. 

That doesn’t stop him from wishing they would come. 

He doesn’t want to be alone here. 

No one touches him after that. 

Whether they’ve got something else to do or they’re giving him time to recover so they don’t accidentally drown him and lose their only potential source of information or they’re just bored with him for now, Armin doesn’t know. 

Whatever the reason, it’s a welcome relief. 

Time passes after that in a sort of haze.

Armin is sure he’s blacked out at least once because when he comes to, there are voices. 

He curls around his stomach, ducking his head down in an effort to defend it, but the blows never come. 

That doesn’t mean much. 

They’re not hurting him now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. 

Far more likely, they’re biding their time, waiting for him to work up the false hope that they might actually leave him alone this time. 

Metal shrieks as the cell door swings open on hinges that have been left unoiled for far too long. 

Armin flinches hard, unable to help the little whimper that bleeds from his throat when footsteps approach. 

The hands that touch him don’t hurt him when they roll him on his side, but they will. They will. 

They’re just biding their time. 

They always hurt him in the end. 

“Armin.” 

His name. 

They never say his name.

And they never sound like… like this.

“Armin, say something!” 

An arm curls around his shoulders, sitting him upright. He doesn’t have the strength to do it himself and so he falls limply against this new person’s shoulder. 

“Armin… Shit, that’s a lot of blood. Mikasa!”

_ Mikasa. _

If she’s here- if she’s really here- then he’s safe. She would never… She’d never let them touch him. 

A whine builds in his throat. There’s a pressure that burns just behind his eyes.

“Armin…” A hand grips his elbow, small, but familiar in its firm reassurance. “Amin, you’re safe now. Breathe.”

He forces his eyes to open- he has to see her. 

“Mikasa?” His voice is incredibly hoarse, even to his own ears.

There’s a hardness in the lines of her face when his eyes land on her, but her eyes are soft. 

“Yes.” Her hand slipped away from his elbow, before finding its way into his own. “I’m here.”

“Is…” Armin lets his eyes slide shut. The darkness, where it can be warm and safe and he doesn’t have to remember how much he  _ hurts, _ is tempting, but he forces them to snap back open. “Is Eren here?”

“No.” 

The relief that floods his system is instantaneous. 

He doesn’t know why or how they’re here, how they managed to get past the Garrison in order to rescue him, but bringing Eren here would be asking for more trouble. 

“He wanted to come,” Mikasa adds and, for the first time, he sees a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. “He was ready to tear everything down without a second thought.”

That… that sounds like the Eren he knows. Thoughtless and headstrong and willing to do anything if it meant protecting someone he loved. 

_ A bone splintering crack, a severed arm. _

Armin tries not to think about what  _ anything  _ had meant for Eren only several days- or had it been a week?- the passage of time has become blurry for him- before. 

It wouldn’t have boded well, either, for Eren to try stomping to his rescue, attacking the military with his newfound powers.

It would have only solidified the idea that Eren was humanity’s enemy even further.

They’d be even more determined to eliminate him, even less willing to listen to reason. 

Armin has never been more thankful for Mikasa’s ability to keep him contained.

It’s only a second before she’s all seriousness again. “Jean, we need to get him out of here.”

“A-are we sure?” Jean stammers. He sounds alarmed and Armin wonders: does he really… does he really look that bad? “I mean…”   
“Yes.” Mikasa sounds certain and if she is, then it can’t be too bad. 

She generally knows what she’s talking back.

Armin hasn’t had a good look at himself in… what feels like a long time, but he knows there’s dried blood on his clothes.

They haven’t done anything to draw blood recently. Drowning had been their favorite by far. 

He lets out a shaky sigh and his head falls back against Jean’s shoulder once more.

“What happened?” he asked. How did they come to be here? 

His question is directed at Mikasa, but it’s Jean who answers.

“Commander Pyxis happened,” he says and he shifts their positions so that he’s helping Armin lean forward, exposing his bound arms. “Mikasa, the ropes.”

Mikasa cuts them away.

After that, Jean can get one of Armin’s arms looped around his shoulders. 

Mikasa is at his other side instantaneously and they both help him to his feet. 

Armin clenches his teeth hard as pain immediately flares. It’s hard to pinpoint one exact source. At this point, it seems like he’s one big mass of bruises. He just feels lucky they didn’t feel the need to escalate to broken bones. 

Pyxis?

Armin tries to imagine that, working out what his friends must have undergone to convince that man they were on his side.

“You told him about Eren, didn’t you?” he says finally. 

“That he could help retake the wall, but he had to get you out of here if he wanted that help,” Mikasa confirms grimly. “Turns out he really knows how to throw his weight around.”

* * *

He doesn’t see Eren right away.

Instead, once they’re safely away, someone he’s never met before and who doesn’t speak a word to him spends some time patching him up. 

Mikasa lingers for a time, but eventually even she leaves with the soft announcement that she’s going to be seeking Eren out. 

Surprisingly, Sasha comes to see him after that. She sits gingerly beside him on the cot and wordlessly holds half a potato out to him. 

For a moment, he just stares at it, unsure of what she expects him to do with it. Does she expect him to take it? He’s hungry, but- what if it’s the wrong thing? What if this is a trap and he’s not supposed to take it? 

“I didn’t know if they had fed you,” Sasha explains quietly when he still hasn’t . She still hasn’t quite made eye contact and Armin isn’t sure if she’s referring to his captors or his rescuers or both. 

Armin accepts it carefully and Sasha colors fiercely. “Actually,” she thrusts another half a potato at him, “take it all.”

“No,” the words feel thick in his throat, “you, uh, you keep it.” 

Honestly, he’s not sure if he’ll be able to manage just this small amount he has in his hands.

“Thanks!” With gusto, Sasha immediately begins to chow down on her half. It’s gone in seconds, but she still stays by his side. 

Tentatively, Armin takes a bite. His appetite before really hadn’t been anything to speak of, except now he’s suddenly famished and he wolfs the whole thing down in a matter of a few bites.

Now he’s regretting not accepting Sasha’s offer of the second half of the potato. He still feels hollow inside, sharp pangs that gnaw at his insides reminding him that he’s had hardly anything in the past… however long it’s been. 

Sasha is looking at him in awe, like she realizes she may have just found herself a new eating partner.

He presses his palms against his knees. “Thanks,” he whispers, more subdued than Sasha’s own show of gratitude. 

Sasha beams. “You’re welcome!” Then, looking around her furtively, she leans over to whisper in his ear. “I, uh, stole that one too.” She pats his shoulder and Armin fights hard not to flinch at her closeness, because this is Sasha and Sasha would never hurt him. “So… maybe don’t tell anyone about it.”

Armin nods, but it’s hard to breathe with her sitting so close. It’s not her fault, of course. 

She’s just… sitting too close. And it’s getting harder to breathe. 

He folds over, putting his head in his hands.

“Armin?” Sasha’s voice vibrates with uncertainty, but Armin can’t think of the words he would need to assure her that he’s fine. 

He’s not fine. 

“What’s going on? Armin?” He’s still capable of picking up on the underlying panic in her voice. She puts a hand on his shoulder, but that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. 

Armin flinches away from her with a small cry and Sasha jerks back.

_ I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. _

He cringes, pulling his knees to his chest and curling into a ball. His heart is hammering away in his chest and he can’t breathe… he can’t breathe.

Armin gasps, tears sliding down his cheeks. 

Why can’t he breathe?

He can hear Sasha’s voice- she’s shouting something. He thinks she might be shouting for someone. He can’t be sure. 

“Armin.” That same voice from before, grounding him. “You need to breathe.”

Mikasa doesn’t touch him at first. That helps.

“Mikasa-” 

She hugs him then, strong arms encircling him and pulling him against her chest. 

He grips her tightly, lost in the swell of his emotions and clinging to her like she’s the only thing standing steady. 

“Breathe,” she repeats. Her hand cups the back of his neck. “Breathe, Armin.”

* * *

Armin wakes without the memory of having ever fallen asleep.

He’s still pressed against Mikasa’s chest- the realization has him blushing and he moves over so they’re no longer so close together.

At some point, she also has fallen asleep too. 

The bed he’s been allowed while recuperating is a little larger than the standard military-issued bunks, but it’s still cramped for two people.

No. Make that three people. 

There’s a third person asleep on the bed with them, chin resting on Mikasa’s shoulder, fingers brushing Armin’s elbow. 

_ Eren. _

Something rises in Armin’s throat, threatening to choke him and he reaches out before he can help himself, fingers brushing against Eren’s. 

Eren cracks an eye open. 

“Armin…” Both eyes open wide and then he’s sitting up so abruptly that he shakes Mikasa awake. “Armin!”

“Mmph?” Mikasa grunts, rolling onto her back. She’s immediately alert, eyes blinking at the ceiling in the dim light, but there’s no danger and so she’s content to remain where she is for the time being.

Eren can’t take his eyes off Armin and Armin squirms under the scrutiny.

“Eren…” he begins. 

“You’re…” Eren begins and then stops. “You’re awake.”

“Yes,” Armin whispers back, staring up at the ceiling, “I’m awake.” 

He can’t think of anything to say after that and so he remains silent. 

“They wouldn’t let me come for you,” Eren says abruptly. “I…”

“They would have killed you Eren,” Mikasa grumbles. 

“No more than they would have killed you!” Eren retorts. “Or Armin!”

Armin flinches involuntarily, thankful when seconds pass without Mikasa or Eren commenting on it. 

“They’re still not convinced you’re on our side,” Mikasa finishes. “If you’d gone in with a titan…”

“I wouldn’t have used my titan!”

“I know,” Armin says, interrupting them. He feels like he’s choking again, like there’s water in his lungs and he’s drowning. He wipes at his eyes. “I know, Eren. Mikasa told me. Eren...” He breaks off then, suddenly finding himself unable to speak, and he covers his face to muffle the sound of the sob that chokes him. 

Mikasa stills. 

“Armin?” Eren whispers. 

“I’m fine.” Armin forces himself to speak, inhaling shakily. “Just…” Just what? Overwhelmed? Afraid? Both?

He offers no resistance when Mikasa wordlessly sits up, pulling him to her and wrapping her arms around him. A moment later and Eren joins in, arms sliding around the both of them. 

Armin shuts his eyes and breathes. 

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wanted to spend more time focusing on Eren and Armin's relationship because... BROTP.
> 
> But- after season 3 and Mikasa's reaction to Armin's apparent "death," I realized that Mikasa and Armin was a relationship I wanted to see explored further. The end result was Mikasa getting a larger part than I originally intended, but that's okay because I love her.


End file.
